They say it's better to travel than to arrive. When
what's waiting for you at the other end is civil unrest and
terrorist threats then it's probably true.

What sounds like a mission for a United Nations' peacekeeping
force is actually just Australia's World Cup qualifying group.

And for Ryan McGowan, it's just par for the course in yet
another 20,000-mile epic around the globe en route to Russia in 2018.

While Europe's play-off teams tool up for the fight to reach
France next summer, the Asian confederation's three-and-a-half-year
long, 18-game war of attrition to make Moscow is already well under way.

Sometimes, in some of the most unstable countries in the region,
that metaphor becomes all too literal.

Dundee United Socceroo McGowan has already been in and out of
strife-torn Tajikistan and faced the bedlam of Jordan.

FIFA and Australian officials are still debating if it's safe
for them to make the journey to Bangladesh next weekend - a trip the
Aussie cricket team called off amid security fears less than a month
ago.

McGowan said: "I was laughing at Scotland and the moans about
their two-hour delay from Georgia!

"I'll leave on Sunday night and arrive in Australia on
Tuesday morning for a game on Thursday. That's a quick turnaround
in terms of training, sleeping patterns - it's not ideal but
it's what we have to do.

"We've got a home game first against Kyrgyzstan in
Canberra then we're supposed to be flying to Bangladesh.

"At the moment we're being warned we might not be going.

"FIFA and our own federation are looking into it just now but
our cricket team pulled out from travelling there for safety reasons.

"I think the embassy are wanting us to go and if FIFA say we
have to, then we have to.

"It won't be the first time we've had to do it but
it becomes more than just a game of football.

"Tajikistan was on the brink of civil war when we went. There
were mass shootings in the streets of Dushanbe, people lined up against
the police, 30 were killed in street fights in the days before we
arrived.

"Obviously our security is very good and we're well
looked after - but it doesn't make things easy.

"You just get to the hotel, stay there, then get bussed to and
from the ground and get out as soon as you can."

For 90 minutes, though, what happens outside the while lines is
forgotten, no matter where they go.

And after leaving behind Oceania to join the Asia branch of world
football to make their pathway to the World Cup Finals tougher but less
dependent on the vagaries of a two-game play-off, the Aussies' eyes
have been opened in the region's far-flung outposts.

A 2-0 defeat to Jordan in Amman last month is testimony to that.

''Tajikstan was on McGowan said: "Football unifies
people, no matter what they're experiencing in their daily life.
You go to places that are in turmoil but the game takes over for 90
minutes.

There "They'll support their national side and especially
against us - we're a big fish now that we're in the Asian
confederation.

shootings in streets "There's a lot that's
unfamiliar about the countries we're playing. And they're
different home or away.

"On their own patch they can cause a lot of problems. Packed
stadiums, mad atmospheres.

"Against Jordan the stadium was full two hours before kick-off
because four people were trying to get in on every ticket. So they
filled the place then just closed the doors.

"By the time we arrived, the outside of the stadium was
deserted and you think 'This isn't too bad' Then you get
inside the ground - and it's total bedlam!

"It gives their players a huge lift. They don't play to
crowds domestically then they've got 30,000 going wild."

Still, Australia wouldn't have it any other way after the
hit-and-miss play-offs they used to experience.

The 26-year-old said: "In previous campaigns the entire
journey came down to just two games in a play-off after we won the
Oceania group.

the of "We played Iran, Uruguay a couple of times, Scotland -
it's difficult when three years of work to get to a World Cup comes
down to just 180 minutes.

were "Now there's a clear path through two group stages.

the "You're allowed a bad game because you can make the
points back over a campaign.

'' "We play a first qualifying group of five. Then
the top 12 teams play two groups of six - with the top two in each group
qualifying and the two third-place teams playing off.

"So you're playing 18 games, maybe 20 to get to the World
Cup."

For McGowan and the other Aussies playing for European clubs, that
means frequent flyer miles. Hundreds of thousands of them. He said:
"The guy in charge of our football federation's logistics has
one of the hardest jobs in Australia, trying to keep 20 players happy
with the best, most direct flights he can find for everyone.

"We've got a wild cross section - players in Europe,
Asia, the Arab world, as well as our own domestic league.

"There's not a box set known to man I haven't
watched. There's so much down time with the flights.

"Come Sunday I'll start eating and sleeping Australia
time.

"I will try to stay awake the entire flight to Dubai and the
first couple of hours from Dubai to Melbourne.

"Then I'll sleep because that will be the equivalent of
Monday night.

"I'm fairly conditioned to it so I don't need any
help to sleep.

"And the federation look after us magnificently. We fly
business class, get the best flight times and they try to give us the
airlines and airports we want.

"But it's still 20 trips back to Australia then 10 more
onward journeys for away games, like 5000 miles to Bangladesh this time
and another 5000 back to Scotland.

"So yes, my frequent flyer points are looking pretty
healthy!"

way after used to in stadiums, mad '' ''
Tajikstan was on the brink of civil war. There were shootings in the
streets

CAPTION(S):

OZ-SOME McGowan takes on Spain's Villa at World Cup

SHUT-EYE SHUTTLE McGowan tries to kip on the flight into Melbourne

HAUL TOO EASY Scots in Georgia (right) would have been moaning a
lot more had they taken McGowan's epic trek with the Socceroos in
Asia (above)

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